Frosty
by Erin87
Summary: A Sparky ficlet. Elizabeth shivered. It didn't go unnoticed. John looked at her, concern written in his green eyes. "Hey, are you cold?"


A.N.1: Hey everybody! Just another little ficlet based on a Gateworld prompt. Enjoy!

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Frosty

Elizabeth laughed breathlessly as she ran through the gently falling snow. "Come on, I see it!" urged John laughingly, sounding for all the world like an excited five year old as he ran beside her. He reached out and took her hand, ensuring that they stayed together in this wintery world.

They were out of breath and still laughing when they reached the covered back door to the Hall; they pounded to a stop on the large granite flagstones. "Well," said John merrily as he turned around to look out at the forest, "this came up out of nowhere."

Snow continued to fall to the ground and coat everything, reminding Elizabeth strongly of sugar being sifted. The immediate area was lit by a pair of lanterns that hung on either side of the sizeable wooden door that led inside, but outside the pool of amber light the rapidly encroaching dusk combined with the snowy weather to turn everything a soft pearly gray. It was really quite lovely, although admittedly unexpected. After diplomatic discussions had ended for the day, Elizabeth had decided to take a little self-guided tour of the woods surrounding the meeting hall, and John had refused to allow her to go alone. Not that she had put up much of a fight about the matter; she had been happy to have the company. They had been walking along, enjoying the clear and mild autumn day, when it had suddenly begun to snow without any warning.

Elizabeth turned to look at the scene as well and smiled, still trying to catch her breath. "It seems like now I do remember hearing something about how extremely changeable the weather is on this planet."

"Yeah, and they weren't kidding."

They stood in the cold air and watched the snow for several minutes without saying anything. Then Elizabeth was distracted from how pretty everything was by the awareness that she could now barely feel the fingers of her right hand. The left one was fine, and she suddenly realized that that was because John hadn't let go of it yet. The realization wasn't an unpleasant one. She clenched and unclenched her right hand, trying to force the blood to flow, and then pulled down the sleeve of her uniform jacket in an attempt to warm her numb fingers. Her efforts didn't go unnoticed. John looked at her, concern written in his green eyes.

"Hey, are you cold?"

Elizabeth nodded reluctantly. It was freezing out here, but she didn't want to leave the snow yet. "Just a little."

Surprisingly, John didn't suggest that they go inside where it was warm. "Here," he said, turning to face her and holding out his free arm, "Give me your hand."

She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, but complied with the order. He took both of her hands, one cold and one warm, and pressed them together, then wrapped them in his. Elizabeth could immediately tell a difference. His hands were slightly rough, but strong and sure, and, most of all, the source of the wonderful warmth that was spreading through her hand.

"Better?" he asked.

She found herself nodding again. "Yeah, thanks." She glanced down at their joined hands for a moment, then her gazed wandered upward and she couldn't help a small smile. Snow had settled in the spikes of his hair, and his black leather jacket was frosty with accumulated ice crystals. She freed her left hand and reached up to wipe some of it off his shoulder. He looked down and laughed when he saw the clinging white.

"Yeah, we both got kinda frosted." He grinned and she laughed. "It's even in your hair." John unthinkingly reached up and began to run his hand across the brown curls at her shoulder to get the snow off, but then he seemed to realize the intimacy of what he was doing and froze, his fingers still in her hair. Their eyes met and Elizabeth felt her breath catch in her throat and her heart start to beat faster, a thousand different feelings swarming through her all at once. They stared at each other for a second that felt like an eternity, the only sound the hiss of the snow as it fell, and then they were both leaning in, their lips meeting in a cautious yet tender kiss. Suddenly the cold and ice seemed to disappear, and the shivering stopped. What snow? It was _warm._

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_A.N.2: Thanks for reading and reviews are always appreciated! :)


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